Mike,

I was getting such a request from a guy in Europe who was going
to school and an intern at ALCATEL. I designed a AGC using a PIC and
put it on my site so people could use it. He wanted to know if I could
help
him design one that did this or that. He said it was for ALCATEL and
was going to
use it for some school project. I got tired of him emailing me and told
him
this:

"Please do not take this personal but I don't like ALCATEL. I worked
for
a company they owned and their management sucks. They treat non-french
employees like crap and I have no interest in helping them. Just
remember I
have no problems with you, just the company you work for.

Good luck!"

That was the end of his emails. It might not have been the most
politically correct
thing to do but as I have told my boss, "I am a technician not a
politician".

Steve




>>> mdippers@HARRIS.COM 4/22/2004 10:32:48 AM >>>
Over the years I've published some of my non-work related papers and
software on
my personal web site.  I have always been receiving e-mail from people
that want
to discuss what I've published, and I enjoy receiving that kind of
e-mail.

Recently I've been receiving two or three letters a month titled
something like
"Urgent.  Please Help!"

The body of the message usually continues with "I am a student at <some
kind of
college> studying <some type of computer subject>.  I need a
<C++/Java/Matlab/name your language> program that will <do something
similar to
something I've published>.  Please send me such a program."

I've tried to make it clear that I don't do other people's homework
assignments,
but if they have some questions about specifics or are stuck on a
certain issue,
I would be willing to try to point them in the right direction in my
spare time.

I spend a good amount of time finding references to get the author
started, but
there's never a follow-up.  I'm assuming that's because they wanted a
zero
effort solution.

I know others on the list get similar requests.  How do you handle
them?  Are
these types of students beyond help?  Should I just junk the letter and
not
waste any time with a response?

-Mike

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